Well, it goes like this: I was not going to see Maiden again in this tour. Having already seen them 3 times (and believe me, living in Mexico that is a lot of times) I was way too busy, way too tired to go see the band again. Also I was not that sure about 3 guitar playesr on stage. So it happens that the day they were playing in Guadalajara (a nearby city 3 hours away, and their first stop on Mexico) I just was out of the office fixing some details about selling my car, when a friend of mine, whom I know since high school greets me with "Let's go to the Maiden show! Everything is set up: a van with driver, lots of beers and the ticket!" I was like "Ticket? They are sold out!". But, no, it happens that one guy, General Manager of a GM provider had a detail in the plant and had to stay. So I had a ticket. Not free, as I had to pay for it, but to the prive it was bought around US $80. It took me like 3 or 4 seconds to decide....just call my wife and tell her I will be late, hehe. There were 14 metalheads on the van, very comfortable, and a lot of beer. It was a nice mixture of really old farts like me and some other young guys (the youngest at 16 years!) blasting good metal and drinking beer. Needless to say after 3 hours, I was almost drunk. We had people there waiting since early that day, and we arrived there just in time to get something to eat...and maybe just sweat out some beer. I actually didn't see that much people once we arrived.
The place, named arena Telmex (Telmex is the biggest phone operator in Mexico and it is owned by the world's richest man, Carlos Slim) was out of proportions. This is a place for maybe opera, Grammy-alike rewards ceremonies, but hardly for metal. Or so I thought.
Again, while waiting in line, it was cool to see all kind of generations of Maiden fans going around. Just in front of us it was a whole familiy (the father still with suit and tie) and it was the mother which was a big Maiden fan (two kids around 12-14, her sons also anxious to see the show). Yeah, you can actually see people trading suit & tie for a Maiden T-shirt everywhere. Nah, I was too lazy (or drunk?) to do it, so I just went like out of the office (which I dont use suit, just more casual wear).
Inside of the place, we were greeted with a big glass of beer...something I was not really asking as I was feeling now with a hungover (at that time we had started drinking like 7 hours ago!). Again, the place was fantastic, everything was really clean, people helping you out to your seats (well, we had a place at the pit, no seats, but we were like just 2 meters from the stage, really!). Also it was not allowed to smoke inside! I don't care about this as I do not smoke, but it was weird a metal show without smoke...
Later I find out that some places were even higher in cost than mine, due to the fact they were near the stage, but with seats. Weird really, it tells you that they charged for them as if it was opera, not a metal show. That night, the highest ticket to be paid in re-sale was the one where we were, going up to US $400. And at that time, it was all full, around 10,000 people there.
I think I do not need to tell much of the show (fantastic, and where I was it all sounded incredible, I mean I was maybe just 3 or 4 meters away from the band). The crowd respected a lot the opening act (Steve's daughter with insipid hard rock), as they went out alive.
Oh, boy it was going to be a big mistake for me to loss this one, but for some reason I was there.
We arrived back at around 3 a.m. and a shower and some sleep to go to work again (the show was on thursday).
Well worth the trip, and if you can see them, do it and do not think because you have seen them before, that it is not worthy. The mass hysteria is worth the damn show alone!
No wonder thay are a big influence in heavy metal, and they set up the path for the more extreme forms of metal..._________________Unbound celestial assassins...

I haven't even thought about seeing them since the Fear of the Dark tour, mostly because they always refuse to play the old material. But if that set list represents what they'll be playing on this tour, I'll have to see 'em again!

Just found out that the Early Days Vol.2 DVD collection is released, containing the World Slavery Tour footage, plus tons of other stuff! Think I'll walk over to the record store today!!_________________"Great holes secretley are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl..."

I haven't even thought about seeing them since the Fear of the Dark tour, mostly because they always refuse to play the old material. But if that set list represents what they'll be playing on this tour, I'll have to see 'em again!

Just found out that the Early Days Vol.2 DVD collection is released, containing the World Slavery Tour footage, plus tons of other stuff! Think I'll walk over to the record store today!!

I recently saw Maiden @ The Forum in L.A. After waiting for hours in line, I was lucky enough to witness a great set from the front/center of the sold-out Forum. Their performance was unbelievable!! Minus a few fuck ups because of the sound and whatnot. And of course, we were graced with the presence of the gigantic Somewhere in Time Eddie. hehe. All the songs sounded killer live. One of their best was definitely Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I highly recommend for anyone who has the chance to see them on this tour to go! _________________Der Rest ist Schweigen.